Noel Lippens of Belguim

"De
Vital" is sire, g-sire, g-g-sire etc of birds to win all over the
world including the Gaby Vandenabeel "Champion Blikem"the
pigeon of 2000.

The
set up is brilliant and the view is just as good for this loft and bungalow
that is set in grounds that are a pleasure to be in and built with pigeons
in mind. I have had the information on this National winning fancier
for well over 12 months but have been unable to get the full facts together
but as with all reports we get there in the end and even now I have
had to collect more information on the recent results. I am going to
start with the loft because it is what we would all like to race to
and designed with a minimum amount of work to be undertaken each day.
This is a brick structure and a continuation of the garage and living
accommodation. The main highlights with the loft being a wide belt fitted
below grilled floors to take the droppings away. This same system is
also used in the nest boxes where a flick of a switch and it is all
cleaned out, an ideal system. These lofts are a long way from the old
lofts that Noel raced to when "Vital" was 1 st National Ace Pigeon long
distance because that loft was a two story affair and not quite as easy
to manage as the modern day system. The lofts also have water troughs
between 3/4ft off the ground where they have an incoming water supply
and a plug to let the water away. This works well because when you walk
down the corridor you can see the water pipe coming downwards and then
there is another pipe to take the water away whenever changes are made.
The watering may be done communally but the feeding is all done to the
individual birds in their boxes, this allows you to know what each pigeon
is eating and also if a particular pigeon needs any additions for whatever
reason. The feeding is based on the Gaby Vandenabeele mix from Beyers,
there is also the addition of the Versele Lag mix of Gerry Plus which
is given 100% for the long distance races. Everything is done for ease
and convenience and who can blame anyone for not making the best advantage
of what is available and of course their pocket can stand and now he
has retired he can spend more time observing the birds. When you consider
that Noel houses a good team of pigeons then the easiest ways are always
the best, that team consists of 32 old cocks, 31 2yo and 32 yearlings.
The continental systems are always different than the majority of lofts
in the UK because they class and race their birds differently with maturity.
They are raced with the future in mind and not sent too far too early
which is a benefit with the long distance races in mind. Anyway Noel
has 96 cocks that are raced on the widowhood system with their hens
being housed in lofts away from the racers.

I
had spoken to Frans Rigole about Noel Lippens on several occasions mainly
because of a pigeon called "Vital" who was 1 st National Ace Pigeon,
more importantly followed by a string of good winning pigeons. What
fanciers from the UK very often fail to recognise is the fact that many
or should we say most of the top Belgium fanciers exchange birds quite
frequently and they are not the pure family that many believe. These
exchanges are why so many maintain such a high level of competitiveness
and stay amongst the leading pack year after year.

Noel
is one such fancier with his own excellent breeding ideas and more importantly
the new blood that is brought in at regular intervals. Just to give
you an idea here are a few results achieved through the selections that
Noel makes include and I must point out that these are just part of
the National results. 2 nd 2 nd 3 rd 3 rd 5 th 6 th 6 th 7 th 8 th 8
th 8 th 9 th 9 th 9 th 9 th 9 th plus approximately another 80 positions
in the top 100 during the last 20yrs. What you must also remember is
that Noel is more inclined to go for the distance races that is more
suitable living in this part of the Country. Going back to Noel's top
winning "Vital" and it's breeding, I was told about this pigeon some
time ago and probably due to the language barrier this information was
interpreted incorrectly, which has now been put right. The breeding
of "Vital" is very prominent at the present time in the breeding of
many good pigeons, there are direct children of this cock in many top
lofts and Noel must be pleased with the success's from this line. Not
one of Noel Lippens racers but a fine example is "Vital Pomerol" winner
of 1 st National La Souterraine 11,300b. 2 nd National Cahors 11,838b
plus other top positions. To highlight the way the continental fancier's
breed all you need to do is study such pedigree's and in this case we
see that the main breeding comes through "Mercks Duivin" from Decroix
Bros and "Blois 76" that originated from Gust Taveirne of the Taveirne-Rigole
partnership on both sides and are the main base of this family. You
could also add to that the "Blauwe Docker" another direct cock from
Tavernier-Rigole who figures prominently in the breeding. However as
with all good pigeons there is the cross brought in and in this case
it is with the Erik Vermander "Old Witpen" winner of 8 top 100 prizes
in National competition. When you study the top pigeons in recent years
for Noel they more or less all have one thing in common and that is
"Vital" is in the breeding. The best of 2002 are the same, look at "Clinton"
winner of good prizes including 5 th National San Sebastian and is a
son of "Vital". "Armstrong" is a winner of 4 th National Montauban,
8 th National Soulliac and is also from similar lines as is "Jackson"
winner of 1 st National Soulliac Derby in 2002. They also win for others
with such prominent fanciers as Gaby Vandenabeele who's wins include
1 st Provincial Poitiers with a g.son of "Vital". Jonckheere of Torhout
won 1 st National La Souterraine and 9 th Nat Cahors with the same pigeon
that is three quarters Noel Lippens. Erik Vermander wins 3 rd International
Pau and 3 rd National Beziers with Lippens pigeons, as do many other
fanciers so you see they also win for others they are highly rated on
the continent.

As
far as the racing goes as pointed out earlier it is all done on the
widowhood system but there are differences, remember earlier how we
said that the team is made up of yearlings, 2yo and old birds. Well
the yearlings are the only ones who rear a nest of youngsters. What
happens is the 2yo and old birds are paired and allowed to sit eggs
for in the region of 8 days then separated but the yearlings rear a
nest and then separated. Noel has found that this system suits his ways
of racing and also bonds the pigeons to the boxes in their first year
of racing. All racers are paired early in February; they go through
the first cycle and are then re-paired around the third week in March
just for a few days. They are then separated again and put onto the
widowhood system and do not see their hens again until they return from
the race, they are sent to the races with their encouragement being
that the bowl is turned over and that it that, once the system is in
full swing the pigeons know what is expected of them.

We
have not mentioned a great deal on the stock birds that are made up
of 20 top pairs and are put together in December, the youngsters from
this round are all sold and not retained. Noel rears his quota of youngsters
in March but with his interest growing in the young bird championships
that could change. Prior to this season Noel has not taken much interest
in racing youngsters but like everyone who races pigeons if you want
to stay at the top then you must review your system and make changes
from time to time. Noel has not raced the darkness but like other areas
in the sport there may be a change of mind should he wish to extend
his competition even further for the youngsters. To keep the pigeons
healthy Noel does take time out to look in on the vet for inspections
of his pigeons, this is something that a lot of top continental fanciers
do. He does treat them on a precautionary basis for Trichmoniasis for
five days prior to the season starting and there are further treatments
every three weeks. If the conditions are poor for any race they are
also treated for respiratory disease.

It
really was a pleasure to visit Noel and we must thank him for his time,
I know that he has retired now but not when we made our visit.

This
place really is a pleasure to visit and with Noel being such a nice
chap it made the visit all that much better even though the language
barrier stopped a lot of direct communication. I would like to call
again in the near future to see what changes have been made since Noel
retired and many thanks for your time Noel.